Vehicle-spring.



W. E. EASTMAN.

VEHICLE SPRING. APPLICATION FILED PEB. 1, 1909.

Patented Jlane` 28, 1910.

ANunEw u. GRQHAM CD. FNoTo-Unnswwums. WASHINGTON, D c,

WILLIAM E. EASTMAN,.OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

VEHICLE-SPRING'.

Specicaton of Letters Patent.

' Application led February 1, 1909.

Patented J une 28, 1910.

Serial No. 475,500.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. EAST- MAN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Boston, in the county of Suolk and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inVehicle-Springs, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in springs for vehicles and itpertains to the class that support the carriage body above the axles,and for the purpose of illustration l adapt my invention to theautomobile.

The objects of my improvement are, first, to provide means to govern thetension of said springs to accord with the lesser or greater weight tobe supported thereon; second, to increase the leverage to secureuniformity in the tension of the springs; third, to impart an increasedvertical and lateral force to said springs after they are depressed to apredetermined limit; fourth, to prevent the semi-rotation of thecarriage axle casing; fifth', to reduce the vibration of the vehicle toa minimum independently of the weight to be carried, and in otheressentials hereinafter described. I attain these objects by themechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a vehicle with the axles in section andthe near wheels removed to display my organized invention. Fig. 2,illustrates the rear portion with identical features on an enlargedscale. Fig. 3, denotes a'plan of the same. Fig. 4, is a detail of thebracket and rods supporting the spring. Fig. 5, shows the manner ofanchoring the spiral spring to said bracket. Fig. 6, is a perspective ofthe bracket supporting the adjusting rods, casings and accessories, andFig. 7, a longitudinal section of the same.

Corresponding numerals of reference identify similar features throughoutthe drawing, referring to which- 1, designates the vehicle, and 2 theangle iron to which the supporting brackets 3 3 and 4 are secured. 5 isa bracket similarly attached and sustaining the outward end of theadjusting rod 6 provided with a lengthwise slot 6 which receives the pin6 passing through a similar slot (Fig. 7) in the two-part sleeve 7 7,said pin being driven through and sustained by the bracket 5 as shown,thus obviating the longitudinal and rotational movement of the rods.Said bracket 5, and in a like manner the headed end 9 of said rodcontacting and actuating the second sleeve 7 but a slight resultantmovement being necessary to secure the responsive action of the springs.Said rod 6, at its inward end is supported by the bracket 3 and at itsouter end is screw-t-hreaded and provided wit-h a scale 8 over which thenut 9 turns when manually rotated by the crank 10 to simultaneouslyactuate both sleeves 7-7 toward or away from the axle 18, any movementbeing accurately gaged through the co-action of the index ring 11integral with the nut 9, and the scale 8. If desired, said scale maybear numbers at certain intervals to note the pre-determined loads thesprings will sustain, thus facilitating their quick adjustment.

The fixed brackets 12 swingingly support the pendent vibratory links 13which sustain the ends 14 of the spiral springs 15 (Fig. anchored in thegrooved stud blocks 16. The inner ends of said springs constitutingextensions are movably pocketed rearwardly and forwardly in duplicatedepressions in the saddle piece 17 (Fig. 2.) suspended by, and embracingthe sleeve 18 loose on the axle 19. To increase or diminish the tensionof said springs, I provide the connecting rods 20, diagonally positionedin their relation to the horizontal plane of the adjusting rods 6; thelower bifurcated arms of said rods 20 are attached to said links 13 asshown (Fig. 4.) the upper arm being secured to the bracket 21 by the nutand bolt 22, the screws 23 confining the brackets to the sleeves 7 and 7and by which said sleeves are horizontally actuated by the nut 9 inconjunction with the head 9 as previously described to increase orlessen the tension of the springs 15. A further means of finaladjustment of this tension is through the extensions and the screw bolts32 in the saddle 17 to secure a uniform action in the springaggroupment.

Secured to the sleeve 18, I provide the collar 24 confined to the saidsleeve by the stud-bolt 25 (Fig. 3.) and having lugs 26 projectingdiagonally from the side adjacent are attached the radial rods 27leading to the screw threaded tee-bolt 28 and attached The operation ofmy improved vehicleV spring isr as follows: Assuming the carriage tostand in its normal condition z'. e. without a burden, if now, a weightof a few hun- Y d'red pounds be added the body will settle to a positionthat will insure comfortable riding through a proper resilience of thesprings.

Should the weight be increased to several hundred pounds, manifestlyvthe resilience would be impaired; this effect being anticipated, theoperator restores the recuperative power of said springs by the rotationof the nut 9,'impelling the rearward and forward sleeves 7-'7 toward theaxle and with them the connecting rods 20, thus forcing the links 13 toa position that will increase and restore the original tension of thesprings to support the body with its former elasticity. In a likemanner, the reversalv of this operation with a depleted load permits thesprings to return to their normal capacity. Summarily, the leverage isincreased to correspond with the increased tension of the j springs. Iwill observe that the depression of the carriage body also imparts acombined vertical and lateral thrust to the springs which enhances theridable qualities of the vehicle over rough roads or obstacles, and, asthere may be other methods of producing the results herein described,for instance replacing the manually actuatedv threaded nut with a rackand pinion operated from the engine with suitable disconnecting levers,if a power driven carriage,or by pneumatic appliances utilizing theadditional weight over the normal capacity of the springs to operate mydevices, or other actuating inechanical appliances, I prefersubstantially the manner illustrated, and while I do not limit myself tothe details of construction herein described, I may variously modify thesame while adhering to the spirit of my invention which havingdescribed- I claim:

1. The combination of a spiral and compensating member or extensionadapted to support a carriage body elastically, said spiral upheld bythe vehicle and said meinber upheld by the axle and anchored by movablejoints, said extension adapted as a lever to compensate the tension ofthe spiral, means to adjust said spiral to the weight imposed and meansto restrict the movement of the axle.

prising adjustable rods, sleeves containing said rods, bearings tosupport said sleeves and permit their horizontal movement, coniiectingrods and means securing said rods to said sleeves, and spiral springsactuated by said connecting rods to increase and decrease'thei'rtensional strength in proportion to the weight toI be supported.

3. Springs for vehicles arranged'to 0perate with a compensating leveragecompris-V ing saddles movably pocketing the contiguous ends of thesprings, means in said saddles to control said leverage stud blocksanchoring the spiral ends of said springs, vibratory means sustainingsaid blocks, two part sleeves confined to move horizontally and adaptedto increase or diminish the tension of the springs, means connectingsaid blocks with said sleeves and means to govern the movement of thesleeves to impart a resisting quality to said springs additional totheir normal capacity to uphold. Y

4. An elastic support for vehicles combining a vertical and a lateralsustaining power to the carriage body comprising adjusting rods havingadjacent to their outer ends a rentering slot, sleeves enveloping saidrods and provided with a corresponding slot, fixed brackets supportingsaid sleeves and provided withco-acting means to permit the longitudinalmovement of the sleeves and `to restrict the rota-tion,` of said rods,in combination with springs-having a spiral at one end, terminating inextensions vibratory means suspending said spirals from the vehicle,bifurcated rods connecting said springs with the sleeves and meanssupporting the extensions of the said springs contiguous to the axlecasings. 4 j

5. Springs for carriages combining an elastic support and a compensatinglever, vibratory means for their attachment to the carriage, sleevessurrounding the axles and provided'with means loosely supporting saidsprings thereto, rods governing the tension of said springs, means toactuate said rods, and means communicating from thercarriage body to theaxle sleeves to reduce the motion of the axles horizontally.

6. A carriage supporting spring arranged and adapted to have itsleverage increased to govern its tension comprising a spiral terminatingin an extended member,rmeans for its attachment tothe vehicle body andto the axle, an adjusting rod', communicating means from said spiral tosaid rod to increase and diminish the tension of the spiral and means toregulate the movement of the adjusting rod.

7. In an elastic support for vehicles" they fol-lowinginstrumentalities, adjusting rods adapted to be longitudinally actuated,sleeves enveloping said rods and meansdefi'ning the rods displacement,springs coiled at the ends remote from the axlesV and having extensions,means suspended by said axles to receive the adjacent extensions of thesprings, rods restraining the movement of the axles and rods connectingsaid spring coils with the sleeves to impart thereto a divergent andconvergent motion to relax or tighten the said coils whereby the powerof the organized device increases in a ratio corresponding with thetension of the springs.

8. The combination with a vehicle of a two-part sleeve suspendedtherefrom, a rod embraced by said sleeve and having an external screwthread at one end, a scale extending the length of said thread, aninternally screw threaded nut provided integrally with an index ring, ageometrical spiral spring and means connecting the rod with the saidspring in a manner that any longitudinal movement of the rod willincrease and diminish the tension of the spring as set forth.

9. An elastic support for vehicles comprising in duplicate vibratorylinks, connecting rods controlling said links, means to actuate saidrods horizontally, spiral springs attached to said links and saddlesloosely suspended from sleeves over the axles in a manner to reciprocatethe lateral thrust of said springs.

l0. In an elastic support for vehicles a saddle piece having rearwardand forward duplicate depressions supporting the inner ends of thesprings, means therein to adjust the tension of said spring ends and asleeve loosely surrounding the axle casing, in combination therewith asleeve adapted to be secured to the axle casing provided with duplicatelugs, radial rods attached thereto and means for anchoring and governingthe tension of said rods.

In testimony whereof I have aiiixed my signature, in presence of twowitnesses.

VILLIAM E. EASTMAN. Witnesses:

CHARLES B. SPENCER, M. C. MACDONALD.

